As a "returning newbie" (I crunched a bunch of classic units back in the stone age), I have been following the PC Build for my Dad thread at https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=82037&sort_style=0&start=75 with some interest. You folks have given good advice to Jeyl and his Dad (I am neither one!) but I have a question about the optimization parameters you gave. A couple of times, the following was repeated:

In the
C:\ProgramData\BOINC\projects\setiathome.berkeley.edu
folder will be a file
mb_cmdline_win_x86_SSE3_OpenCL_NV_SoG.txt
put the following command line in it and save it (use Notepad only, not Word or Wordpad).

I definitely understand the concept of the various parameters, but I do not understand them in the detail necessary to make real use of them for tuning. My system is somewhat different from Jeyl's, mostly in that it is ancient and considerably simpler. The computer ID is 8411663 and it is now running the optimized apps as installed by the Lunatics installer. I do intend to upgrade the hardware when the Chief Financial Officer (Mrs Wandrr) releases some funds, but that is a question for another day. In the meantime, I am trying to optimize the puny contribution that 8411663 does. I have searched around, but I can't find any documentation describing the various parameters like, for example "spike_fft_thresh". I am reasonably technically astute, so I can guess that this parameter gives a lower(?) limit for the fast Fourier transform of spikes. On the other hand, I might be completely off base with my guesses. Furthermore, I bet there are more parameters than just the list above.

So, with that long background, my basic question is perhaps simple:

Where can I find documentation of those parameters?

I would prefer to work through the optimizations so that I understand them. I am sure that you folks can easily reel off an optimization string suitable for my old cruncher, but I want to learn. This is supposed to be fun, isn't it?

Thanks for the pointers to documentation. I understand now. Unfortunately, my ancient NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512 doesn't even support OpenCL, so most (all?) of these tuning parameters are moot.

I will have to work on the Chief Financial Officer to spring the cash for a new 1070TI GPU or something.

What do you folks recommend in the meantime?

Really, with your current hardware, there is nothing you can do. Your CPU doesn't support AVX and your GPU is pre-Fermi. You might as well just run them stock and forget about any tuning. Nothing is possible. Once you get more current hardware, come back and post your question again.Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

Depending on budget, the 1070Ti is fine but might be able to find some 980Ti cheaper. They produce more but also use more electricity.

I am waiting a bit on the GPU in the hope that the mining craze will slow down and make GPU's a bit more available and reasonable in price. The 1070Ti is just an example.

The GTX 1060 does respectable work for a not too crazy price and would be cheaper to run as it uses half the power of your old 8800 GTS. You can get an idea of production per card type and production per watt-hour of power usage here.GPU FLOPS: Theory vs RealitySeti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours

Really, with your current hardware, there is nothing you can do. Your CPU doesn't support AVX and your GPU is pre-Fermi. You might as well just run them stock and forget about any tuning. Nothing is possible. Once you get more current hardware, come back and post your question again.

Thanks for the honesty, Keith. I am reaching the same conclusion. The CFO is getting a beautiful new multi-thousand dollar serger to feed her sewing obsession, so I think I have a good case to get some hardware.

See you in a while, and again, thanks everyone for the pointers and advice.Arnie
Alberta, Canada

The GTX 1060 does respectable work for a not too crazy price and would be cheaper to run as it uses half the power of your old 8800 GTS. You can get an idea of production per card type and production per watt-hour of power usage here.GPU FLOPS: Theory vs Reality

I have been watching the GPU FLOPS thread. Part of the fun is selecting the optimum parts!

As for wall-plug power consumption, I have no restrictions, other than the limit of how many electrons I can suck out and reasonable ecological concern. My rent includes utilities. The landlady might be concerned if I install a rack full of blade servers and dozens of GPU's, but please don't tell her!Arnie
Alberta, Canada

The GTX 1060 does respectable work for a not too crazy price and would be cheaper to run as it uses half the power of your old 8800 GTS. You can get an idea of production per card type and production per watt-hour of power usage here.GPU FLOPS: Theory vs Reality

I have been watching the GPU FLOPS thread. Part of the fun is selecting the optimum parts!

As for wall-plug power consumption, I have no restrictions, other than the limit of how many electrons I can suck out and reasonable ecological concern. My rent includes utilities. The landlady might be concerned if I install a rack full of blade servers and dozens of GPU's, but please don't tell her!

Well, that is neat. Removes any guilt from the cost of huge power bills to support our love of science.Seti@Home classic workunits:20,676 CPU time:74,226 hours